Bag-fastening and locking mechanism.



H. TARSHIS, L. BERZON & 1. BREZIN. BAG FASTENING AND LOCKING MECHANISM.

APPLIQATION FILED MAY 3. 1917.

1,245,132. I Patented 00 5.30, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

' INVENTQR Har ryTarshw, Louwflmfgom @Josephrgizu ATTORNEY H. TARSHIS, L. BERZON & J. BREZIN.

BAG FASTENING AND LOCKING MECHANISM.

- APPLICATION FILED MAY'a. mi.

Patented Oct. 30,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' I N VE N :ro R Harryfzrskas; 1102113056, fis ph/B WITNESSES HARRY 'TARSHIS, LOUIS BERZON,5AND J OSEPH= BR EZIN, .OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYL- VANIA; essieivons crown-rooms TO- Levis-anon, or rmmnmrnm, PENN- SYLVANIA.

..BAG msrnmne .AINI) LocKme. MECHANISM.

. Specification ofLettcrsiPatent. i Patgnted Oct, 30,1917,

A ncaaoa mea'm s, 1917. Serial No.'167,,304.

To all whom it may concern I Be it known that HARRYTAR'sHIs, LOUIS BnRzoN, and J osnrrrBnnziN, citizens of the United States, residing at 1837 N. 31st street,

' in Bag Fastening and Locking Mechanism, p modified form of the inventlon, illustrating 1426 S. ZOthSt, and 2625" Douglas St, re.- spectively, Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to fastening and locking mechanism of thetype-employed for effecting the retention of the jaws of a traveling bag in closed and looked positions, and has for its primary object to provide a conveniently operated mechanism of this 7 character for simultaneously efiec'ting the operation of the severallatch elements thereof, so that the bag may be more expeditiously and readily opened.

Another object is to'produce bag fasteninging mechanism possessing substantial and practical features of construction,and having novel locking means cotiperating therewith for preventing the actuation of the latch elements by unauthorized persons.

lVith these and other objects in view, as will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts to be hereinafterfully 7 described and pointed out with particularity in the appended claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of the hinged jaw frames of a satchel or like receptacle, illustrating the application of the present invention thereto.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken through the fastening mechanism, comprising one of the preferred embodiments of the invention.

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view thereof, showing the mechanism detached from the satchel frames.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view disclosing more particularly the look ng means.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional View. wk?! through the m dlength OfF g- Fig. '6 is a detail perspective view of one of the latch elements. v y Q F 1g; 7 is a similar view of one of, the plungers. I Fig. 8 is a detail view of one of the sliding locking plates.

Fig. 9 is a view of one ofthe manually operated slides.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a .slightly the latch elements.

N Fig. 15 is a similar view of the lock lever.

' Fig. 16 is a similar view of the plunger of the modified form of the invention. Similar characters of reference denote corresponding 'parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

" Referring to the drawings and more'particularly to the form of the invention shown in Figs. l to 9 inclusive, the invention. is disclosed as being employed in conjunction with the usual hinged jaw frames 1 and 2 of a traveling bag or satchel, which frames are of the ordinary angular construction,

and are adapted to havev the body 8 of the satchel secured thereto in any suitable manner.- Sliding latch arms 4: and 5 are carried by the. frame 1 forinterlocking cooperation with'substantially hook-shaped catches 6, rigidly secured to the frame 2, whereby when the arms and elements are in active engagement, the frames will be connected so as to close the entrance to the satchel. The

latch arms 4 are positioned adjacent to the central portions of the frame 1 and pro v I trude inwardly, while the latch arms 5 are disposed near the ends of the frame, this arrangement being common in bag construction. However, in the ordinary form of traveling bag now in general use, it is necessary to operate the arms 4 and, 5 separately to permit of the opening of the jaws, Ihis process is rather laborious and complicated and, therefore, it is the aim of the present invention to provide mechanism for operating the latch arms in a. simultaneous and convenient manner, and to obviate unnecessary operations incident to the opening of a ba To this en'dthe-arms are pr vid'ed with integral, or otherwise formed, horizontally and inwardly extending bars 7, which are adapted to extend parallel with the frame 1, and to be located 'exteriorly or above the latter. l The inner contiguous extremities of the bars are formed with openings 8, tlirough which the latch arms t are adapted to pass, whereby upon the movement of the arms a the cooperating latch arms 5 will be synchronously operated, as will be clearly understood. A channeled casing 9 is adapted to cover and protect-the bars 7, said casing being secured in a rigid manner upon the frame 1 by providing the same with projecting lugs 10, which pass through openings 11 provided in the frame, and are bentover so as to prevent the removal of the casing from its secured position upon the frame. A plate 12 is positioned within the casing and is interposed between the bars 7 and the upper surface of the frame 1, said plate being employed in the capacity of a wear plate. Alining slots 13 are formed in the frame 1 and in the plate 12, and are utilized to receive'the arms a and 5 so as to permit of a controlled sliding movement of the latter. Other slots 1% are provided in the bars 7, and in which are positioned helical springs 15, the latter having their outer extremities bearing upon the end walls of the, slots i l, while the opposite extremities are adapted to engage with angularly bent pins 16 can ried by the casing 9,'thus enabling the latch arms to be normally retained in positions to interlock with the catches 6 of the frame 2.

.In order to permit of the convenient manipulation of the latch arms,the casing 9 has secured to and positioned above the central portion thereof, a housing 17. Slidable over the upper surface of said casing and partly positioned within the housing are oppositely movable slides 18, the latter having rigidly secured thereto the upper e tremities of the arms a, whereby the movement of the slides will result in the syn chronous movement of all the latch arms. Knobs 19 are carried by the outer eXtremi ties of the slides to permit of the convenient manipulation of the latter, that is, by simply gripping the knobs with the fingers of one hand, and moving them toward each other, the end and central latch arms will be given simultaneous.movement, to permit of the opening or separation of the frames 1 and When the knobs are released, the pring will automatically return the latch arms to fastening or looking positions.

Locking means are provided in conjunction with the latch arms, to prevent the latter from being surreptitiously actuated to effect the opening of the bag. The means preferably consists of a plunger 20 having 9 a head 21, which is vertically movable with spring serving to re tainthe plunger 20 in a normally elevated position. A bar 26 is also carried by the head 21 and extends allel to the shank 2i, and through guide openings provided in the frame and casing,

' said bar being formed with an openin 27,

the purpose of which will presently appear.

Slidably supported upon thelower surface of the casing 9 is a locking plate or bolt 28, having an inwardly extending tongue 29 formed therewith, said tongue being adapted to frictionally engage with one side of the bar 26, and is 'inaintained in such engagement by means of a coil spring 30, which abuts against a fixed element l, carried by the casing, and surrounds and engages with a protruding finger formed with the plate 28. Thus it will be seen that when the plunger 20 is depressed or lowered, against toe normal tendency of the spring the opening 2? provided there rwill be brought.

into registration with the vongue 29, so that the latter will be thrust into the opening 27 by the action of the coil spring 30, which forces the plate forwardly, and will thereby loci: the plunger?!) against further vertical movement. This operation results in positioning the head between the inwardly moving slides 18, thereby efiectivcly preventing the actuation of the latter with the view of operating the latch'arms. in order to remove the tongue 29 of the plate from engagement with the opening of the bar 26, so as to allow the plunger 20 to return to an unlocking position, said plate or bolt 28 "1 is provided with upwardly bent key-engaging projections 33, which are movable with in slots provided in the upper wall of the casing 9, the upper extremities of said projections lying within the housing 17. A keyreceiving opening 3%: is formed in the walls of said housing in substantial registrationwith the projections 38, so that key (not shown) when inserted within said slots will lie contiguous to the projections. Thus it will be seen that by rotating said hey the latter will be forced into engagement with the projections and will force the bolt rearwardly against the tenion of the ing 30, so that the tongue 29 will be drawn out of the opening27. This permits the plunger 2-0 to return to its unlock ng posit on within the boss 22, by the act-ion ofthe spring 25, which 1 is allowed to expand when the bolt 28 is removed fromengagement with the bar28.

From. the foregoing description it is thou 'ht that ithefollowing remarks with i U 1 pressedlatch arms 5 so as to fasten the bag in-a closed condition, Then in order to lock the bag in the latter position the. plunger 20 is depressed, so thatthe head 21 thereof will lie between the slides 18, thus preventing the latter from. being moved inwardly. In or der to open the bag, a key is inserted. into the opening 34 and is revolved so as to force the bolt out of engagement with the plunger, thereby permitting the latter to return to its normal position. Then so situated, the slides. 18 may be moved inwardly against the influence of the springs 15, thus effecting,-

the simultaneous operation of the latch arms 4 and 5, so that the latter will be drawn out of engagement with the hook elements 6, thus permitting the frames 1 and 2 to be readily separated.

In Figs, 10 to 16 inclusive of the drawings there has been shown a slightly modified form of the invention. In this form use is made of the usual swinging jaw frames 40 and 41 of a traveling bag or the like, the frame 40 carrying sliding latch arms 42 and 43, which ade adapted to engage with rigid catches 44 carried bv the frame 41. The upper extremeties of the arms 43 extend through slots formed in the frame 40 and into a channeled casing 45 rigidly mounted upon the exterior or upper surface of said frame. Alining rods or their equivalents 46 are connected to the upper extremities of the latch arms 43 and extend in parallel relation to the frame 40, and lie within the casing 45. are connected in any suitable manner to the latch arms 42, whereby when the latter are operated so as to clear. their coiiperating catches 44, similar movement will be imparted to the outer arms 43. To effect the actuation or manipulation of the latch arms 42, the upper extremities of the latter are provided with finger-engaging knobs or slides 47, which lie partially within a housing 48 and extend exteriorly of the latter so as to be conveniently grasped. Coil springs 49 surround the outer extremities of the rods 46 and abut against reduced portions of the casing 45, and against the upper extremeties of the latch arms 43, the normal tendency of said springs being to force the latch arms in a fastening or locking position with respect to the catches 44.

In order to retain the arms 42 and 43 in The inner ends of the rods 46 locking engagement with the catches 44, there is provided a vertically movable plunger 50, which isadapted to be interposed betweu the arms 42. Recesses 51 are provided .intlie head 53 of the plunger 50,

and are normally located in alinement with projecting pins 52 carried by the inner faces of the arms 42, whereby thelatter may be freely moved to effect the movement of the latch arms, when the plunger is in its normal or elevated aosition. However l0 depressing the plunger 50-the recesses 51 thereof will be brought out of registration with, the pins 52, so that the enlarged head will be positioned immediately between said pins to prevent movement on part of the arms 42. The plunger 50 is retained in a lowered position by providing the same with an opening or notch 53fadapted to be engaged by a lockmglever54, pivotallymounts.

ed as at upon the depending portion 56 'of a plate 57 carried by the frame 40, and

secured to the latter beneath the casing 45.

Thelever 54 is provided with a bifurcated extremity 57 which is adapted to surround the lower extremity of a rod 58 depending from and constituting the shank of the plunger 50, a spring 59 being situated between the enlarged head 53, and the extremity 57 of the locking lever. It will thus be seen that when the plunger 50 is depressed, the opening or notch 53 thereof will be lowered so as to aline with the hook-shaped end or tongue 60 of the lever 54, so that the same will. serve as a bolt which is thrust into the notch 53 by the action of the spring 59, thus locking the plunger 50 against further movement, and likewise the sliding arms 42.

The plunger 50 may be restored to its normal unlocking position by providing the housing 48 with a key-receiving slot 61, the atter being located adjacent to the upper extremity' of the lever It will thus be seen that by inserting a key into the slot 61 mitting the plunger 50 to return to its normal position by the action of the spring 59, thus permitting the arms 42 and 43 to be freely operated. A thumb button or cap 62 is formed on the upper end of the plunger 50 so as to permit of the manuel operation of the latter, and a casing 63 is adapted to sur round the locking mechanism of the lower extremities of the arms 42, so that clothing carried by the bag will not interfere with their operations.

From the foregoing it will be seen that there is provided mechanism whereby the objects of the present invention have been achieved, and all of the advantageous features above mentioned are, among others, present. The mechanism described is extremely simple, yet efiicient in construction,

reliable in operation, and not likely to become out of order.

It will be understood,however, that We do not limit ourselves to the particular form of the invention shown; and that various slight changes can be made Without departin from the spirit of the invention, the scope of which being defined in the appended claims.

Having described the invention What is claimed as new and patentable is:

fiopies of this patent may be obtained for gaging the plunger when depressed, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. in a bag fastener, the combination \v'th the jaw-latching mechanism, alined horizontal slides connected therewith, and yielding means holding them normally spread; of a plunger movable vertically in the space between the slides and having a head of a size to fill it and a reduced shank depending therefrom the latter having an opening, a spring-pressed locking, element iaving a tongue to normally engage said opening when the plunger is depressed, key actuated means for retracting said element, and a spring normally raising the plunger as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures.

HARRY TAR-SE18. LOUIS BERZON. JOSEPH BREZIN.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

